SAR sector responds to devastating climate events

The Auckland flooding in January and Cyclone Gabrielle in February showed the adaptability and resilience of our SAR people, many of whom dropped everything to assist.

There was widespread damage across the Northland, Auckland, Tairāwhiti, Bay of Plenty, Hawke’s Bay and Waikato regions, and the Tararua District. Sadly 11 people lost their lives, including two volunteer firefighters from Fire and Emergency NZ. Two Surf Life Saving NZ clubs and one Coastguard base were destroyed.

Police, the New Zealand Defence Force and Fire and Emergency NZ deployed hundreds of staff to affected areas. The Maritime NZ Rescue Coordination Centre took over aviation tasking for the cyclone response and did three months’ worth of taskings in three days.

Volunteers from AREC, Surf Life Saving NZ, Coastguard and LandSAR deployed from across the country and assisted with radio communications, supporting Incident Management Teams, and conducting searches on land and on the water.

We will have more stories from the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle in an upcoming issue of Link.

This article was first published in the March 2023 issue of Link Magazine.